One of the most complex issues for writers is that of ensuring they are getting the message, as they intended it, to their readers. This is a concern about the nature of written language. When speaking, it is possible to respond to the body language and questions of the listeners and modify what we say. In writing however, we have no such luxury and for many of us the first time that we are aware there is even an issue is when we receive an essay back with marker comments like “I don't understand what you are getting at here?” "Clumsy expression” or "Unclear".

Writing stages

It is important to see the writing process as having distinct stages:

1. Getting your thoughts sorted out about the question/set topic
2. Writing an essay/report which addresses the issues you have decided are important
3. Resting your draft text
4. Editing your draft text to ensure that an external reader can interpret what you mean.

This requires two different mind sets. Stages 1 and 2 require a focus on academic reading and investigation of content; while Stage 4 involves establishing clear communication between you and the external reader.

Demonstrating your knowledge

If you see the examiner/marker as the subject expert then it becomes difficult to work out what to write because ‘they know it all anyway'. However, if you can see that your responsibility is to demonstrate your knowledge, then you can look at your essay/report and assess whether it assists the marker to determine that you know what you are writing about.

The overall purpose of writing an essay/report in the first place is to get to know a major issue by conducting reading research and then to put forward an argument that is your response to a question or topic. Many students start trying to write their "answer" too soon and therefore do not spend enough time becoming certain about the ideas and material that will form the basis of their answer to the set topic.

Slow down

The key to producing a piece of academic writing is to take excellent quality notes to build your understanding of the topic. Remember, lecturers deliberately set essay questions around topics to which you do not have answers at this stage. It might seem strange to say but the first thing to do is to forget the essay as it will distract you into thinking about structure. Learn about the content first then work out how you plan to tell the story.